This invention relates generally to the production of food products in casings. More specifically, the invention relates to the use of reels of clips on stuffer/clippers.
Products such as dry sausages and cooked sausages are prepared by extruding a pasty mixture of meat, spices, and fillers into a casing. Other prepared meats, such as deli meats and molded products, are manufactured in a similar manner, as are whole-muscle meats. For some applications, a shirred cylindrical casing is used; for other applications, flat sheets of casing are turned over plows and formed into a cylinder. Casings can be plastic, natural, fibrous, collagen, or synthetic. After the product has been wrapped in the casing, a clip is applied at each end to seal the product within the casing. Automatic sealing and clipping machines are well known in the art of food preparation, such as the TSC-N automatic stuffer/clipper sold by Poly-clip System Corp. of Mundelein, Ill. These devices automatically feed clips into the stuffer/clipper.
One type of clip is a so-called “S-clip”, having a clip base and two clip legs adjoining the latter on both sides. Metal S-clips are conventionally manufactured from wire and supplied either on a reel or in stick form. A plurality of clips are formed in a line by a vibrator and connected by adhesive tape, glue, or plastic, or other similar methods. A stick is usually about 50 clips long, formed in a straight line. A reel contains thousands of clips, formed in a line and rolled onto the reel. S-clips can also be formed from plastic by injection molding, in which case they are generally molded in sections of 50 or more clips.
Another type of clip is a so-called “R-clip”, in which the individual clips are formed in a continuous line and rolled onto a reel. Either type of clip, S or R, can be coated, coded, or colored for different applications.
A modern automated stuffer/clipper can process food products in a variety of ways, depending on the application. Various product-specific specifications and parameters must be entered for each application, including but not limited to clip size, clip type, film type, portions per casing, label, speed control, and casing brake settings. These specifications and parameters can be stored in the memory of the stuffer/clipper and recalled by the operator. Accordingly, a high degree of training and experience is necessary to operate such a machine, to be sure that the correct menu is used and that the correct clips are being applied. The use of the wrong clip can cause serious problems in food production. For example, if the wrong size clip is used to make sausages, the raw sausages may appear to have been manufactured correctly, but the sausage will fall off the tree from which it hangs during a smoking operation, at which point in time it is too late to remedy the situation.
Additionally, different manufacturers make clips to different quality control standards. A manufacturer who wishes to guarantee the performance of its clips would like to know that its own clips are being used, not another manufacturer's clips.
A need exists for a way to operate an automated stuffer/clipper without requiring a great amount of training and experience. A further need exists for a manufacturer to be able to guarantee its own clips but not another manufacturer's clips. The present invention fills these needs.